Remember Who The Real Enemy Is
by Julia451
Summary: One-shot. Alternate ending to HTTYD 2. What if, after Toothless defeated the Alpha in combat, Hiccup realized the Bewilderbeast wasn't the enemy here, showed him compassion, and tried to make friends with him like he does with all dragons?
_It's not fighting back_.

Even with the danger Hiccup and all his people were still in, with his mind still reeling from the harrowing events of the past twenty-four hours, with the fierce battle raging right next to him, this fact stood out. The creature knew it must be hundreds of times stronger and more powerful than its opponent. There was no sign it was injured or weakened. He'd seen it fearlessly attack a much stronger opponent without hesitation just yesterday. So why was it now standing there doing nothing but roaring helplessly as it took the stinging blows of a Night Fury's attack over and over again without making a single move to defend itself? Why wasn't it fighting back?

Hiccup hadn't had any opportunity to stop and observe this Bewilderbeast like he did most new dragons, not when he'd first seen it, nor at any point after. There had always been too much going on – there had been no time to regard it as anything but an imminent threat. Now that Toothless had taken over the fight, he finally had the chance to closely examine the beast.

What he saw puzzled him, but he wasn't sure why – what did he expect? Well, he'd seen dragons fight before, usually over mates or territory; if he'd had the time to think about it, he would have guessed this fight would be a larger-scale version of those. With such fights in mind, there were many different things he would have expected to possibly see in the Alpha dragon. Fury over being challenged as it did everything in its power to show its superiority over its enemy. A fierce determination to protect and obey its master. Surprise at such defiance from such a seemingly small opponent. Maybe fear once it realized how strong its attacker really was. Possibly (hopefully?) the respect for a worthy adversary he'd seen many dragons come to display in combat. Even excitement for the thrill of battle – given the destruction it had caused at the sanctuary and here, it must enjoy fighting more than anything else.

He saw none of that. Hiccup had learned how to read a dragon's emotions too well over the past five years to mistrust his eyes now. The creature not only showed no desire to fight but no desire to save itself, as if it had no power to resist. Even as it howled and recoiled from each blow, Hiccup saw no anger, no passion, no hatred, not even any fear in its eyes. All he saw was pain.

 _You don't want this any more than I do_ , Hiccup realized. He was nothing like the Red Death. Attacking the sanctuary, then his island, killing the Alpha, controlling the dragons, killing his father... he hadn't enjoyed any of it. He didn't want to do this.

Nothing changed as the battle went on except that the Alpha gradually lost control of more and more dragons. Hiccup watched them flock behind Toothless as an enraged Drago leaped into the fray. _He made you do it_ , the Dragon Master thought, his own rage building up again. _You're not a warrior – you're the weapon. He made you into his weapon._ The Bewilderbeast didn't follow his master the way Toothless followed him, as a loyal comrade in arms, but as a slave. He had apparently learned long ago that the body he inhabited didn't belong to him but to his master, that it obeyed the master's will, not his, and he had the power to do nothing but submit. _What did he do to you?_ What had the madman done to break the spirit of such a noble, majestic, powerful creature until there was nothing left but a soulless shell of pain that couldn't even make the choice to defend himself? He had no desire to do anything but obey, no fear of anything but the master, no power to act without being commanded. _It wasn't you_ , Hiccup thought as he recalled everything he'd seen the dragon do, but with one new piece added to the picture. _He used you. You're not the monster here. You're not the enemy._

It was time to stop this. He took to the sky and tried one last time to reason with the only one truly responsible for all this madness. He wished more than expected that Drago would agree to end it. Hiccup wasn't surprised to see the Bewilderbeast, at Drago's command, make its first aggressive move of the fight and take several steps towards Toothless – he had been ordered to fight back now, so fight back, he must. What _did_ surprise him was that Toothless hadn't hit him with another blast at the first step. The Night Fury crouched before him defensively, snarling, charged up, and ready to attack at an instant's notice, but without firing. Had his friend realized who the real enemy was, as well? That their fight wasn't with the dragon? Be that as it may, whether it was his fault or not, Hiccup couldn't let him hurt any of the people or dragons here. He instinctively hesitated for a second – he hadn't wanted it to end this way – but then grit his teeth and reseated himself firmly on the Night Fury's back. His friend understood that to mean that he had permission to protect them all, which he now did.

The Bewilderbeast's groans of pain intensified under the barrage of fire from an army of dragons now hitting him from every direction. In spite of all he now knew about Drago, Hiccup still had to marvel that he could let his loyal servant suffer like this. Surely he must know the battle was lost, that his dragon was no longer capable of fighting back even if he'd wanted to. Hiccup kept waiting for the old Alpha to surrender, but he didn't. He couldn't disobey his master and flee, but he couldn't obey and fight when he was so vastly outnumbered. All he could do was let the storm of fiery blows rain down as he roared in agony until the whole island seemed to vibrate with the sound.

Finally, Hiccup couldn't stand it any longer. "Toothless!" His friend looked up and followed the gesture he made with his arm toward Drago, clinging to his servant's head for dear life with his remaining arm, his bull hook clutched tightly in his fist. Understanding the command at once, the Night Fury unleashed one great blast right at the man's feet that finally shook him loose, sending him plummeting back to the ground just like he'd done a few minutes ago.

Hiccup hoped Toothless wouldn't mind him ending the battle now – it was obvious who had won. "Enough!" he yelled. Getting the message, the new Alpha didn't fire any more shots but flew around to face his army and let out one loud call. Hiccup saw with relief that it translated to, "Stop," as every dragon ceased firing and either hovered peacefully in the air or dropped down to rest on some rock, waiting for their new leader's next command.

Hiccup guided Toothless to the ground and dismounted. The Bewilderbeast no longer roared in pain, just groaned piteously as it leaned on the edge of the cliff, lost and confused, unable to decide what to do next. Hiccup was staring up at it when he heard a bloodthirsty, guttural growl of, "NOOOOO!" behind him. He quickly spun around to see Drago running towards them, his bull hook raised in his only hand. "You'll pay for that!" Toothless instantly stepped closer to his partner's side, his jaws open, his back brightly lit with pent up energy, but Hiccup held out his arm, and the Night Fury instantly fell back. Toothless had had his fight – this one was his.

Drago was still screaming savagely, insane fury carved into every feature, when he reached the boy. Drago had often had the look of some mindless, ferocious beast, but now there was pure murder in his eye. It was plain from where he was looking and where he was running, though, that his target wasn't Hiccup but the dragon who had failed him. Hiccup saw the mighty Bewilderbeast cringe as the little human ran towards him, knowing some terrible punishment was coming for his failure. Hiccup stepped in the man's path, reached out, and got both hands around the weapon's shaft. "Stop!" Some of the spectators rushed forward but not very far, either from fear of inadvertently causing harm or from the instinct that forbade one warrior from trespassing on another's battle. Nobody tried to interfere.

Drago may have only had one arm, but his strength easily dwarfed Hiccup's. "This isn't over!" he hissed through his twisted mouth as they struggled over the weapon.

"Yes. It is," Hiccup said in a low but firm voice. He desperately tried to wrench the staff out of the man's grasp, but he held on as if it was welded to his hand.

"Your puny dragons are no match for the Alpha!"

"He's not the Alpha anymore."

"Not for long!"

Hiccup finally raised his voice. "You can't make him keep fighting!"

Drago actually laughed, not as if mocking him or angry but genuinely amused. "Just watch." He pushed Hiccup back hard, and the boy had to let go to keep from falling over.

"Hiccup!"

He turned his head a fraction towards the voice to see Astrid thrusting back her arm and throwing Inferno his way. He caught it in his left hand and instantly unfolded the blade and set it alight. He still stood between the man and his dragon, Toothless still hanging off to the side, every muscle braced to attack, waiting for his friend's signal to strike. "How do you think this is going to end?!"

"The same way it did over twenty years ago."

The disturbing reference didn't have the effect he'd intended. Hiccup's eyes narrowed; his voice dropped almost to a whisper. "Not this time..."

Hiccup only had to wait a second for the man to rush him. He swung his sword to drive him back, but Drago managed to dodge the strike. "Attack!" he called to his dragon as the weapons clashed over and over again. "Freeze him, NOW!" He raised his staff to signal what he wanted but had to lower it to fend off another blow. He tried to hook the end of his weapon around the hollow blade, but Hiccup twisted it free. Hiccup, in turn, tried to swipe at the sharp tip, but Drago was strong enough to bat the sword away. Not just Toothless but many other dragons were roaring now as they watched the two humans fight.

As Hiccup made a particularly close swipe with his sword, Drago hurried to back up and, unbalanced without his metal arm, stumbled and almost fell. Hiccup took the half-second he was occupied to reach down and pull a canister of gas from his boot. He didn't take the time to load it into the sword hilt but instead pressed the trigger and threw it. Drago stumbled further, blinded by the thick cloud of gas. When Hiccup came charging through it at him, he wasn't ready. Thinking the boy meant to kill him, he quickly tried to raise his bull hook to block the attack, only for the flaming sword to easily slice through the wooden shaft right down the middle, right at the point where the pieces were bound together.

"NO!" The hooked end of the staff fell to the ground, leaving its owner holding a useless stick. Hiccup, never taking his eyes off Drago's stunned face, stepped on it, holding his sword in front of him, even though Drago showed no sign of attacking him again. On the contrary, he looked frightened for the first time since Hiccup had met him. "Do you realize what you've done?!"

Several gasps from the crowd showed they understood enough for the same thought to occur to them. Only Hiccup looked perfectly calm. "Yes. I do," he said slowly. Still keeping his eyes on Drago, he bent down and picked up the broken weapon with his free hand. He backed up a few paces, Toothless mimicking his every step, but when Drago didn't move, he retracted the blade of his own sword and returned it to its place on his side. Then he turned and walked straight between the tusks of the great dragon behind him.

Once again, many sharp, loud, terrified gasps went up from the crowd behind him (far more than a moment ago), even a female cry or two of, "Hiccup, what are you doing?!", but he paid them no mind. His full attention was on the Bewilderbeast, who, though it was in another's hand, seemed to be trembling in fear at the sight of what he had come to recognize as the source of so much pain and suffering. Hiccup held the weapon out in front of him and watched the horror that hadn't appeared once throughout the entire fire fight come into the great dragon's eyes. It was clear that he wanted nothing more than to get as far away from the thing as he could, but he didn't dare move.

Hiccup himself felt no fear, just overwhelming disgust as he once again imagined what the poor creature had been forced to endure to be brought to this state. He threw the horrid thing away to the side as if it was the limb from a rotting corpse. As soon as it hit the ground, Toothless seized it in his jaws and crushed it to splinters in one bite. Was Hiccup imagining it, or did the giant ice dragon look awestruck to see the thing that had tortured him his whole life be easily, completely destroyed? Hiccup hoped seeing it would do him some good. He kept moving forward. "It's over," he said softly. "It's all over."

The dragon growled at him as he got closer, causing Toothless to growl back, but Hiccup gestured for him to stay calm. Of course he knew full well that dragons couldn't understand human speech, but every one he'd met before could detect enough from your tone and manner to figure out your meaning – he could only hope this dragon hadn't lost his ability to do the same. But in order to give them a tone and manner to read, you had to talk, so Hiccup kept talking.

"I'm not gonna hurt you," he said gently. "I know you didn't want to do it." Out of nowhere, he was suddenly overcome by visions of what the beast had done – impaling the king of the sanctuary, taking control of Toothless, ordering his friend to kill him, his father taking the blow, the houses of Berk crushed and covered in spikes of ice... It was the same uncontrollable rush of hatred and anguish he'd felt when Toothless had crept up to his father's body. He was no more prepared for it this time, but at least he recognized it in time to call forth his reason and logic to push it away.

"It wasn't your fault," Hiccup said in the same tone he'd used with Toothless. "He made you do it. He was cruel, and he was evil. But you're not. He hurt you. He used you to hurt them." He thought he noticed the giant grow calmer – had he realized the human wasn't going to hurt him? "You weren't meant for that. You're one of the kings of dragons. You were supposed to be a leader – a _real_ leader. To care for them. To protect them. You deserved so much more than this." The dragon let out a low, rumbling roar similar to the ones he'd heard many times long ago from behind the doors to the training dragons' cages, except full of more sorrow than frustration. "He tricked you. He made you fear him. But he's nothing without you. That's why he tortured you. That's why he's been controlling you. He needed you. He needed your power. But it's your power, not his. You don't have to be afraid of him."

Hiccup distantly heard muttering among the villagers; they were too far away to hear him, but they could see how intently the Bewilderbeast was watching and listening to him, how his voice seemed to be soothing him. Even the dragons, who probably understood the best, seemed to get quieter as they watched. "You don't have to worry about him now. He's not your master anymore. Not that he ever was." Hiccup sighed and shook his head. "I'm so sorry for what's happened to you. I wish I'd known – maybe I could have stopped it years ago. But it's over now. No more fighting, no more killing, no more recruiting for his dragon army. You never have to listen to him again. You don't have to be afraid. Nobody's going to hurt you."

There was another great collective gasp as he put his hand on the dragon's right tusk. He flinched at the touch, and Hiccup waited for him to realize no pain was coming. When he seemed to relax, Hiccup walked along it, running his hand along the cracked and dented ivory.

"What are you doing?!" he heard Drago yell. "Get away from there!" Hiccup didn't even turn to look, but he was glad to hear Toothless roar at him in reply. He strolled closer to the dragon's face.

"Don't worry. We won't let him touch you." He could see every scale on the dragon's hide now. "It doesn't have to be this way. We're not your enemies. We had to protect ourselves from him... just like you did. We're really on the same side, you know. I don't want to fight you, and I know you don't want to fight them. You don't have to fight anymore. You're safe now. You can be free." He was close enough to the dragon's head to touch it. "He'll never hurt you again. I promise." He raised his arm, and the dragon roared for a half-note. He waited but didn't drop his arm. "I promise." He moved his hand closer but stopped again – not because of the cries behind him ("What is he doing?", "He's gonna get himself killed!", "Hiccup, stop!"...) but because the giant still looked scared by the gesture. "It's okay. It's okay. Trust me..."

"You little fool!" Drago called across the beach. Hiccup turned and glared at him. Toothless took this as a signal to stop him and, in one swift movement, tackled him to the ground. His partner had never permitted him to kill a human before and he made no move to now, but he held him down on his back, snarling and snapping at him, just as he had with Hiccup the day they'd met, before slowly letting him up. The man backed away, not far, but enough that the Night Fury didn't make another move towards him.

Hiccup looked back to see how the Bewilderbeast responded to the sight of his tormentor being subdued by a dragon – the dragon who had just defeated him and taken his title as Alpha. "See? He's nothing to be scared of. The Alpha protects them all," Hiccup told him. "We can't undo what he's done to you, but we can stop it now. If you trust us." He held his arm out again. "It's okay. Just relax. We don't want to be your enemy. We should be friends. Will you join us?" He felt a cool gust of icy breath blow over him, not enough to frost his hair over, but enough to make his skin tingle. The dragon was reading him now, turning the sounds of his beating heart and the scent of his breath and body into something that labeled him as friend or enemy. "You don't belong to him. You belong with us." A hush fell over the crowd of humans and dragons alike as he dared to place his hand against the great beast's hide. "You're one of us."

Hiccup felt the dragon's huge chin lean into his touch as he closed his eyes and let out another mighty breath – the relief of bracing for a blow that hadn't come, unable to comprehend that a human's touch could be gentle and not painful. "Please... let me help you. Let _us_ help you." The dragon let his hand rest there for a moment before his eyes opened as he raised his head and backed a step or two away. Hiccup smiled weakly as he listened to all the shocked reactions from behind him at the fact that the Bewilderbeast hadn't torn him to shreds. The dragon's eyes were still full of pain but now contained a flicker of hope, as if he at last understood that the master he'd belonged to all his life had lost his power, that someone more powerful had taken over, that he no longer had anything to fear from him, and that not only would this human protect him but that his touch didn't always bring pain. He sensed no threat from this human or his dragon. He would trust them.

Hiccup knew it was a lot to take in and gave him a few seconds to do so. When the dragon's head and body sank a little, as if he was starting to relax, he held his arm out to Toothless, gesturing for him to come forward. Toothless left the wide-eyed, open-mouthed, speechless Drago and walked (far more slowly and formally than Hiccup was used to seeing from him) towards them, stopping in-between the tips of the giant's tusks. With a soft, supplicating bellow, the colossal dragon bent his front knees slightly and lowered his head and eyes, accepting the victor as his knew Alpha. Toothless roared – not hostilely – at him in his own sign of acceptance.

Cheers went up from the crowds of humans and dragons together, but this unbelievable sight seemed to have crushed Drago's mind. "No... no..." he repeated helplessly.

"He's not yours anymore," Hiccup called to him.

That statement apparently made the last thin thread of Drago's self-control snap. "NOOOOOOOO!" he screamed as he ran forward, in spite of having no weapon, no protection, and only one arm.

"Stop him!" several voices yelled, but no one had any time to begin to do so. Toothless fired a shot at the ground right in front of Drago, preventing him from getting any closer. Another roar from the Night Fury caused all the dragons to return to the air, circling around him. They made no attempt to harm him, since their Alpha had given none, because his partner gave no signal he wanted that, but Drago was too keenly aware that if any of them chose, they could kill him with one strike here and now. He locked eyes with Hiccup for one second before turning to his left and running for his life.

"Don't let him get away!" someone called as the crowd surged forward. The dragons beat them to it, of course, bombarding every inch of the ground with fresh fire blasts, sending up clouds of smoke so thick and black that Drago disappeared. Hiccup heard him run towards the cliff before he dashed out of the smoke cover, ending up right at the edge. Before Hiccup could finish thinking, _He wouldn't..._ , the man leaped into the frigid sea.

As Toothless called out to the dragons to stop, Hiccup ran to the ledge, but he wasn't surprised to see nothing. His rational mind told him that was the end of it, that a human couldn't survive in these waters for long, but some instinct refused to let him feel completely safe. He had no idea where Drago had sent his fleet, after all. Had he survived? Would he be back? Hiccup hadn't counted on this outcome, but maybe this would have happened no matter what he'd done. For some reason, he had a feeling this is how every scenario would have ended. Well, the invader was gone for now, they'd won, and everyone was safe. His disappearance certainly didn't seem to bother anyone else, as a fresh round of jubilant cheers began.

In the proud joy of watching Toothless officially take his place as Alpha, Hiccup forgot all about Drago. Then he was too busy watching the joyous reunions around him, finding those he loved, and being made Chief to worry about anything else. It was during the chorus of "Long live the chief!", as his eyes roved around the throng of people that had never looked so vast before, that they finally fell on the giant standing at the cliff. He stood still looking into its eyes until he felt someone grip his shoulder.

It was his mother. "That was an incredible thing you did, son. I never would have thought it was possible."

"Well, I've had lots of practice," Hiccup said flatly as he rested his arm on Toothless' head. "I wonder... what's gonna happen to him now?" Would it be safe for him to stay on Berk? Could something of his size survive here?

"That's up to you, chief," his mother pointed out. There was no bitterness, no animosity in her voice or manner. Of course, she didn't blame the dragon for his master's actions – she'd been the one to remind Hiccup of that yesterday.

"You think he could live here with the others?"

"I don't know, but if not, there's plenty of room for him in the sanctuary."

"That's true." Most of the dragons _would_ have to return there anyway – it was their home, and there wasn't enough room here for all of them. "But could he survive there without humans?" He'd never lived in the wild, never been free, never learned how to take care of himself.

"The other dragons will look after him, not to mention his Alpha." They both grinned at Toothless, who grinned back as if he knew they were talking about him.

Hiccup stroked his friend's head again as Eret stepped up to join them. "I've never seen anyone do anything like that," he said, half-solemn, half-awestruck. "How did you do it?"

"Don't worry – you'll learn before long," Hiccup assured him.

Eret sighed as he looked up at the great beast he'd never seen look so peaceful. "I'm sorry I doubted you," he whispered, turning back to Hiccup. "Your friends were right. You _are_ the true Dragon Master."


End file.
